Buckthorn, the Catfox, is one of a small pride of catfoxes that live at the edge of the known world. It is at this point that a rainbow bridge leads across the expanse of the Great Rift (one shudders) from our world into the alternative world of Fantasia.
One remarkable feature of the catfox is that each and every one of the species carries the inscription of a rainbow within the iris of its eye. It is said, at the time of the formation of the Great Rift (one shudders again) a slither of a rainbeam fragmented and fell to the earth with a crash. It was retrieved by a pair of catfoxes and delivered to the Lord Protectorate of the Elves. Legend has it that, since then, all subsequent offspring of this pair could be identified by the presence of a rainbeam etched within the iris of their eyes.
(You can find out more about Buckthorn, and how he came to rescue Leif the Elf, in a free to download eBook called 'Leif's Quest' by Maxwell Grantly available from Barnes & Noble, Blio, iBooks, Inktera, Kobo, Lulu and Smashwords. Sadly, the software at Amazon does not allow a zero pricing and so (if you use a Kindle) you may also download his stories – but at a very small charge. Simply type “Maxwell Grantly” into the search bar at any of these eight sites.)